Realization
by Riddler-of-Words
Summary: She loved him and that was all that mattered. That and the Grammy she planned on winning before she was twenty-five. Rachel


So it's Thanksgiving and I wanted to post something but I didn't get to finish my other piece so I put this up because it only needed an ending. Happy Thanksgiving and I'm trying as hard as I can to get things updated and obsessions (INCEPTION LOVE) written out and whatever else I have to do.

Disclaimer is on my page.

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Rachel wasn't sure how long it'd been since Jesse had transferred to McKinley High. No, that was a lie. It'd been exactly two weeks, three days, seven hours, and—glancing down at her watch with a star shaped screen—twelve minutes.

Although it was tempting, Rachel decided not to count the seconds. People thought she was weird and even though she didn't mind it, she didn't want to give her other fellow students another reason to pick on her.

But somehow, some way, Jesse actually liked her. Yes, he did pick on her occasionally, but it was playful, not mean. And, unlike Finn, Jesse knew what he wanted and went after it. Unlike Finn, Jesse wanted her and no one else. Unlike Finn, Jesse understood her and her future goals.

And when Rachel was around Jesse, she felt something that she'd never felt with Finn. The feeling was hard to describe, but if Rachel had to put a name to it, she'd call it passion.

Jesse made her feel things that she didn't know she could feel. He made her want to sing to the heavens—which she was sure she could do—and twirl around like a little girl that had just discovered her first crush. And when they sang together, she wanted to stop singing and kiss him without inhibition. That scared her the most because she _never_ wanted to stop singing.

Rachel dropped her head into her palm and started blankly at the board. With her test finished and five minutes still left in the period, Rachel ran through the music scale mentally.

Thinking of the music scale made her blush. Last night Jesse had come over and they'd sung together, singing along with the songs on the radio station 93.2.

Suddenly, they'd been singing _You're Love Is My Drug _by Ke$ha, the actual song playing softly in the background from her stereo. At first Rachel had felt uncomfortable, singing something so modern and fast, but she'd squared her shoulders and had stuck through it.

Before she'd known what was happening, they'd been dancing in the middle of her room, their voices filling her bedroom and were bouncing of the walls and making the hair on her arms stand on end.

He'd twirled her, snapping her back against his body sharply and holding her against him. As the song continued on into the second chorus, Jesse pulled Rachel's hips against his, flattening her front against his own.

A gasp had escaped her, encouraging him to lean down and cut her off by kissing her. The music had continued on in the background as Jesse teased her with his tongue, his fingers finding their way down her thighs and hoisting her up.

The world had spun in the corner of her eye as he sat down on her bed, his hands moving up to caress her hips and pull her closer. As their hips connected, a blissful feeling had gone through her as her head fell back in pleasure. Never before had she felt like that, her toes curling as her abdomen fluttered and the feeling went lower.

Then he had pulled away, his lips leaving her neck and kissing her jaw before he'd lifted her off his lap and gotten up. Rachel had blushed as her eyes landed on the bulge in his jeans. He'd caught her staring and had smirked, his eyes running down her body slowly before finding her own.

"You said you weren't ready and I'll respect that," he'd said and without another word had left, leaving Rachel staring at her door with the urge to run after him and continue where they'd left off. But what shocked her even more was that he hadn't tried to push her into having sex with him and that he'd remembered her request to wait and had respected it.

Rachel jerked up in her seat, staring around as she tried to clear her mind of her memory. The heated feeling of her face made her lower her head to hide her face beneath a curtain of curly, black hair.

Students flew out of their seats at the bell rang, signaling the end of the day. As Rachel stood and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, she knew that it was only the beginning. With Glee and then her own private, self instructing lessons, the day was far from over.

And that's exactly how she liked it. Broadway wasn't going to be handed to her, it had to be _earned._

Entering the music room where Glee Club was held everyday, Rachel flinched as a piece of paper hit her in the forehead.

"Dammit, that was going to go in too," Puck swore, glaring at Rachel and motioning for her to move. Once she was out of the way, he tossed another piece of crumpled up paper into the trash bin, earning a hoot from Arty.

"Sorry," Rachel apologized while taking her seat next to Finn.

Finn smiled at her and shrugged. "Don't worry, he's not mad."

"I know," Rachel said while shaking her head and checking her watch, "When are we going to start?"

"I'm not sure," Finn replied, his eyes focusing on Quinn as she walked in. Her dress was loose and only hinted at her pregnant stomach and Rachel noticed the longing in Finn's eyes. The sadness replaced it quickly as he looked back to Rachel. "Soon I think."

Rachel's eyebrows furrowed. She didn't mind starting late every once in a while, but lately, their practices had been starting later everyday. It was obvious that Mr. Schuester was busy, but that didn't mean that they couldn't start on their own.

With that thought, Rachel stood and clapped her hands once as she made her way towards the piano and grabbed a stack of papers that she'd put there yesterday after Glee Club.

"Since Mr. Schuester isn't here yet, we should start," Rachel announced while handing out a music sheet to everyone. "I thought it'd be a good idea to—"

"Thanks, but no thanks," Puck interrupted, earning a giggle from Quinn and a smirk from Santana. Brittany rolled her eyes at Puck, but Rachel could tell from the smile on Brittany's face that she agreed with Puck.

"Puck, shut up," Finn told Puck while twisting around in his seat to glare at Puck.

"Dude, you don't need to defend her anymore," Puck mocked, flipping up his middle finger at Finn. "She's not your girlfriend, not that you'd need to even if she was."

Mr. Schuester walked into the room just as Finn was around to get up from his chair and hit Puck.

"I've decided that today we're going to work on the stage," Mr. Schuester announced, staring from Puck to Finn and then motioning for everyone to get up. He gave Puck and Finn stern looks as they walked by him and out the door, silently telling them to stop acting like children.

Rachel followed Finn out of the door, avoiding Mr. Schuester's eye. It was her fault that they'd nearly gotten into a fight and she felt guilty for that.

A strong, lean around wrapped around her shoulders, distracting her from her previous thought. Jesse smirked down at her, his eyes focused on her lips as they headed down the hall. Before Rachel knew it, they were on the stage and getting ready to start.

It should have scared her knowing that when Jesse was around, the rest of her surroundings faded away, but it didn't. She kind of liked this feeling, a feeling she had seen on so many other high schoolers' faces and had longed to feel herself. It was love, simple as that.

The rest of Glee Club practice went by in a daze. Rachel tried to stay focused, but a nagging thought in the back of her mind distracted her. She was ready to make love to Jesse because she loved him.

It sounded right. She loved him, every part of him that she knew and didn't know yet.

Jesse's hand found hers after Glee Club was over as they walked down the hall. He brought her fingers to his lips and kissed each other slowly. It made a heat in Rachel's lower belly ignite, her cheeks flushing in anticipation.

"Jesse…" Rachel hesitated, afraid for a moment at how Jesse would react. Would he want to make love to her? Did he love her like she loved him? "I'm ready."

Jesse's eyes met hers, first surprised then happy, excited, warm. "Are you sure?" he questioned softly, his smooth lips pressed against her index finger. His teeth nipped at her skin lightly, nibbling on her knuckle.

"I'm sure," Rachel finally answered after she'd regained her breath. She wondered how his teeth would feel on other parts of her body. It excited her to know that she'd find out soon enough. "I'm sure because I love you."

Jesse smiled against her fingers, his breath warm against her wrist as he moved to kiss her palm. He pulled away enough to whisper, "I love you too," back to her before burying his fingers in her hair and kissing her senseless.

Rachel decided she liked how her heart threatened to beat out of her chest, how her toes felt permanently curled in her shoes, how her lips tingled whenever Jesse kissed her. And she realized that she'd do everything in her power to keep it this way. She loved him and that was all that mattered.

That and the Grammy she planned on winning before she was twenty-five.


End file.
